I am very fortunate to be taking a class with Don Hanlon Johnson (a professor of somatics at CIIS and a phenomenologist ) which has as a main focus the embodiment of language, how writing or speech does or doesn't resonate in one's individual body. One argument of phenomenology is that the use of language (especially in academia) is typically disconnected from direct experience, making it stale and unauthentic. Re-embodying language is one of Johnson's concerns--well, re-embodying everything in one's life, to provide a basis of wisdom and an authenticity to one's choices and beliefs. (He's pointed out that the various fascist movements have always persecuted phenomenological thinkers, as well as sought to dumb down language.)
So here is an experiment to try:
1) Carve out about 20-30 minutes, and find yourself a quiet, unstimulated place.
2) Think about some concern that's been nagging you, and find the key words for that concern. Trying writing a short description of the issue and see which words pop out. For instance, if I'm struggling with a difficult boss, in writing I might find that " disempowered " and "anger" and "disrespect" stand out.
3) Take one of the words and say it aloud or silently, while keeping your attention inside your body (hence the quiet place so that distractions don't pull your attention elsewhere). What happens in your body? What do you notice about your posture when the word "hits"? Does a sequence of events happen (e.g., my chest tightened, and then my stomach felt airy, then there was a surge of sensation in my arms)?
4) Write these down, during or after, depending on whether the writing is distracting you from paying attention to your body.
5) Then play with the word. If working with " disempowered ," for instance, what happens when you just feel the "dis-"? What happens when you feel the "empowered"?
6) Then think of synonyms for the word and see what happens in your body when you "put" those words in your body, or when you say them "from the body." For instance, how does "weaken" feel similar or different from " disempowered "?
7) Finally, think of antonyms to your word and check it in your body. E.g., how does "strengthen" feel in your body vs. " disempowered "?
See what happens. Let the exercise be a source of information, a lab for exploring the incredibly powerful realm of language and how it crafts our body and perceptions.
(Resources: Don Hanlon Johnson's website ; California Institute of Integral Studies website ; Wikipedia on phenomenology )
I am very fortunate to be taking a class with Don Hanlon Johnson (a professor of somatics at CIIS and a phenomenologist ) which has as a main focus the embodiment of language, how writing or speech does or doesn't resonate in one's individual body. One argument of phenomenology is that the use of language (especially in academia) is typically disconnected from direct experience, making it stale and unauthentic. Re-embodying language is one of Johnson's concerns--well, re-embodying everything in one's life, to provide a basis of wisdom and an authenticity to one's choices and beliefs. (He's pointed out that the various fascist movements have always persecuted phenomenological thinkers, as well as sought to dumb down language.)
So here is an experiment to try:
See what happens. Let the exercise be a source of information, a lab for exploring the incredibly powerful realm of language and how it crafts our body and perceptions.
(Resources: Don Hanlon Johnson's website ; California Institute of Integral Studies website ; Wikipedia on phenomenology )